Car construction.



No. 855,858. 511125111511 JUNE 4, 1907. 5. 1. 5055s.

CAR GONS'I'RUGTON. APPLICATION FILED MAY a; 1905.

' 4 SHEBTS-SHBET 1.

PATENTE) YJUNE 4, 1907.

E. I. DODDS. GAR GONSTRUGTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAYB. 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

E. I. DODDS. .GAR GONSTRUGHON.

APPLICATION FILED MAY8,1905.

N0. 855,838. PATENTED JUNE 4, 1907.

E. I. DODDS. GAR CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION IJED MAY 8,1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4,

O @i @mi I7 /l /fcf f ,1l

i l i fil/07102; 755W@ @35M owfa /f/l/l/l/L//\ i5 UNITED STATES 'PATENT orrren.

ETHAN I., DODDS, OF PULLMAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PULLMAN COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF4 ILLINOIS.

CAR ONSTRUCTIQN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pate .ated Jun 4, IYQO'I?.

Application filed May 8, 1905. Serial N oi. 259.377.

To LH wim/n. it 'ml/ ty conce/WL:

Be it known that I, E'rnAN I. Donns, a

A citizen of lthe United States, residing at Pullman, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in (lar Constructions, of which the following is a s ieciiication. k

My invention relates to ear constructions,

'more particularly steel ears of the gondola type; and my present improvements pertain in part to a. novel construction of carbody wherein the center sills are dispensed with; and the floor is made in the form of one or more drop-bottom'sections extending the full width of the car-body; and in part to a novel form and construction of operating mechanism for said drop-bottom floor sections. l

In carrying outjhat part of my invention which relates more )articularly to the construction of the carody, I employ a novel construction of side. walls which adapts the latter to assume substantially the function of the longitudinal center sills in resisting shocks or strains; and in carrying out that part of my improvements relating to the dumping floor sections and the mechanism for operating the latter, l employ one or more sections extending the i'ull width of the car-body, which sections are hinged at either or both of their edges lying alongside the side walls of the car, being preferably, and as herein shown, separahly hinged at both of said edges, 'wherein' either edge may be fre-ed so as to cause the section to swing from and on the other edge as a hinge. ln connection with said. drop-bot tom iioor sect-ions or doors l employ an operai ing mechanism cimstructed and operating on the principle. of a dooroperating mechanism disclosedin an application lled by me on the 24th day of April, 15105, Serial No. 257,150, but construct-ionally modiiied to specially adapt the same for operai ing doors having the i'ull width of the. car-l N ;d

.\l present improvenu-nts will he readily understood when considered in connection with the aeconn'ianying drawings which illustrate approved mechanical embodiments of the saine, and in whieh- Figure 1 is a substantially central vertical longitudinal sectional View of a car embodying my improvements; Fig.I 2 is a side elevational View of the same; Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view on an enlarged scale; Fig. 4 is 55 a front end View, partly broken away and in section, more particolari)T showing the operating means at the end of the ca.' for the dooroperatin'g mechanism; Fig. 5 is a cross-seetional View on the line 54-5 of Fig. 4 and 6o Fig. (i is an enlarged cross-sectional View tin-ough the. car, similar to Fig. 3, but showing a slight modification oi the stationary supports for the door-operating mechanism.

Referring .to the drawings, l() designates each of a pair of steel plates constituting the rincipal elements of the side walls of the car' iiody. ltiveted to both sides of the upper and lower edges of said plates are angle irons 11 and 12, respectively, and at intervals 7o there are riveted to said plates, preferably on both sides thereof, vertical reinforcing ribs 13, herein shown as having the 'form of angles, the ends oi' which are preferably bent and cut so as to snugl)r iit the interior angles of the upper' and lower longitudinal reinforcing members l1 and 12, all as plainly shown in the. cross-sectional View, Fig. 3. f

1.4 designates the inclined end walls of the car-body which, as usual in gondola ears of 8o the steel type, extend fromthe upper ends of the side. walls downwardly and inwardly to points somewhat in rear of the truck frames.

15 may represent the usua-l body holsters; 85 and 16 designates a series of transversely extending iioor frame members in the form of I-beams which are rigidly secured. at their ends to the lower margins of the side walls. Between adjacent I-beams lo, and occupy- 9o ing the iloor space between the lower inner ends oithe sloping end walls 14 are aseries of drop-bottom ilor sections or doors i7, herein s iown as two in number. 'lhese doors, as i will be observed by reference to Figs. Il and t5, are oi a width equaling the i'ull width of the car-body between the side walls; and for .the purpose of allowing them to drop downwar-diiT in discharging the load, the usual iongitudinal center sills are omitted. 'lhese ICO doors may he permanently hinged at either longitudinal edge with the opposite. edge free to rise and i'all, as is common in cars of this class; but in order to adapt a. car to discharge the load to. either side 'l' prefer to em- [o5 ploy a construction wherein the door is sepas rably hinged at both longitudinal edges so that it may open op' either side of the ear,

I ofgreater rigidity l preferably inser-t a iilling such a construction being herein shown.` y This construction, which-in its broad aspects constitutes the subject matter of au application filed by me on the 28th day of April, 1905, Serial No. 257,879, consists of the following. Mounted in and transversely of the ends of the I-beains 16 von each side of thecar is a longitudinally slidable rod 1S, pendent 1 from which are a series ofhinge-arins 19, each having at its lower end a laterally projecting hinge-pintle 20 engaging an aperture in the lower end of a downwardly and outwardly projecting bracket or hinge-arm 21 rigidly secured to the under side of the floor section 17. One end of each of said'y rods is engaged by an actuating lever l2 (Fig. 1) suitably pivoted to the car-farine at 23 and having a pin and slot connection 24 with the end of said rod 1S. By swinging said lever 22 in one direction the rod 18 is moved'longitudinall y a sulicient distance to retract the intles 20 from the hinge-arms 21, thusA alowing the adjacent edge of the floor section to drop. When said fioor section has been restored to horizontal or closed position by the means hereinafter described, the movementl of said rod in the opposite direction restores the. separable hinge-members to cooperating relation, in which the edge of the door is supported thereby. The last de-` scribed manner and means of hinging a floor Sec-tion is disclosed as applied to a door supported between the center sill and a side sill in the applicationrlastabove referred to.

Referring now to the means for permitting the dropping of the floor sections and more especially restoring them to normally closed position when the car has discharged its load, 25 designates a door-operating shaft disposed longitudinally (and when'in door-closing po# sition) centrallyT of. the car-bottom, which shaft has integral olfset or cranked portions 25a disposed between adjacent. I-beams, as best shown in Fig. l, and underlying t-he hinged doors. rlhe shaft 25 has fast thereon a series of spur gears .26 that rest upon and operate over lugs 27 formed on the upper' side of hangers 28 that are securely rivete at their ends to the lower flanges of the I- beams. These hangers, and the racks formed therein, are made concave on their upper surfaces, whereby the spur gears 26 travel in an upwardly inclined direction to either side of the center of the racks when the shaft 25 is operated to allow the doors to open, and conversely, travel downwardly toward the center when the shaft isoperated in a direction to close the doors. For the sake plate 2) centrally'between the I-beam 16 and the hanger 28,' said plate having .an arc shaped slot 3() of sullicient dimensionsto accommodate the travel of the gear 26 therein. The offset portions or cranks 25' are each provided preferably with one or more rollers' 31 that engage the under surfaces of the doors in an anti-friction manner. For the purpose of transversely stiffening the doors, as well as providing a wear strip -ortrack on which the rollers 3 1 may operate, I preferably provide the under surface of the door with metal strips or bars 32 disposed in the vertical planes of the rollers 31.

From the foregoing it will be seen that when the shaft 25 is given a turning movement, the shaft will not only rotate about its own axis, but, by reason of the gear and rack mechanism on which' it is mounted,` will be caused to travel bodily and laterally inwarrlly and outwardly of the sides of the carbody, this resulting in giving to the roller supports of the doors a long wide arc of travel, permitting a wide opening of the doors, as well as affording a mechanically advantageous means for operating the latter. It will also beobserved that by reason of the fact thatin opening they doors the' gears arevcaused to travel in an upwardly inclined di rection, while in closing the doors said gears are caused to travel in a downwardly inclined direction, the weight 'of theshaft and parts carried thereby willv oppose the too sudden or abrupt falling of the doors in the opening mov'ement, and, conversely, will facilitate to the same extent the closing of the doors. This construction, therefore, is well adapted to cars intended to carry heavy or easily discharged material.

ln Fig. 6 I have shown a slight modification that is wcll adapted to -cars designed to carry lighter or more or less sticky' material that is not so easily discharged, In this construction, the hanger 2S carries a rack 27a that is convex in form, instead of concave, as in Fig. 31 this rack being conveniently formed on the. {illing member 29, con-- stituting the lower edge of the arc-shaped slot 30a therein. With this construction it will be observed that the gears travel downwardly in the opening of the doors and upwardly in the closing thereof, whereby, in the opening movement, the door-operating sha-f t practically drops of its down weight and op poses little or no resistance to the opening movement ofthe doors, thus permitting the latter to drop quickly and suddenly, which operation facilitates the discharge of material of more or less sticky character, or having a relatively high 'coefficient ot' friction.

Any suitable er convenient mechanism for operating the shaft 25 1nay be employed. a simple mechanism for this purpose being shown in Figs. 4 and 5, wherein Is"- designates a plate securely bolted to the outer face ol' the end 1-beam 16 and hangel, and containing a dovetaileal channel 314 curved on the same radius of curvature as thc supporting racks 27 of the hangers. The rear wall of said channel also has a correspondingly curved slot. 35. On said plate is rotatably mounted ICO lll

by means of a curved dovetailed tongue 36a engaging said channel and block 36, on which is journaled the end of the shalt 25. On the overhanging end of said shaft 'are keyed a pair of twin star wheels 37, which, as shown in Fig. 5, may have inwardly projecting'hubs 37, on which is loosely mounted an operating lever 38 that carries on either side a pivoted dog 39 engaging the toothed peripheries of th'cl starwheels. .livotally mounted on the plate above the inner star wheel 37 are a pair of oppositely disposed and operating detent pawls 40'and 41, the noses of which overlie and engage the teeth of said star wheel, one of said Walls preventing the rotation or the star wheels and shaft in one direction, and the other preventing such rotation in the opposite direction. When both engage the star wheel, in the manner shown in Fig.- 4, a shaft is securely held against turning and sidewise bodilyy movement in either direction.

It will be evident' that by simply reinforcing the curve of the dovetailed tongue` and groove of the last described mechanism, the same will be made applicable to the operation of a door-operating shaft mounted in the manner shown in Fig. 6.

.In operation, if the load is to be discharged on the right hand side of the car, as shown in Figs. 3 or 6, the lever 22 is operated to separate the hinge-members on that side of the car, and the pawl 4() or 41 on the opposite side is thrown upwardly or out of the way, and the dog 39 is adjusted to render the lever 28 opera-tive upon the star wheels to turn the shaft in a direct-ion toward the hinged edge of the doors. As soon as the shaft 25 has been turned sulliciently to 'carry theI rollers 231 slightly to one side of the vertical plano of the shaft, the weight of the doors and the load causes said doors to drop, the

latter and the door-operating mechanism asoperation of discharging the load is simplified and shortened, as compared with the usual construction employing one or more doors on each side of thecar; and by scparably hinging the doors on both sides of the car the load can be discharged to either sido, as dcsired.

It being evident that'minor changes in the details 'of construction and relative arrange- ,mcnt of parts might bc made in the above 1. l'n a railway car the combination of a car-body having side Walls each provided with longitudinal reinforcing strips on both sides of its upper and lower margins, and vertical reinforcing strips on both sides between said horizontal strips, and a hinged load-discharging floor section co-extensive with the width of the car body, substantially as described.

2. ln a railway car the combination-of 'a cnr-body having side walls.each provided' with longitudinal reinforcing strips on both sides of its upper and lower margins, and vertical reinforcingr strips' on both sides between and secured to said horizontal strips, and a hinged load-discharging floor section co-extensive with-the width of the car body, substantially as described.

3. In a railway car the combination of a car-body having side walls each provided with angle i, ns disposed longitudinally of and secured to both sides of its upper and lower margins, and otherv angle irons disposed'vertically at intervals .on both sides between said longitudinal angle irons, and a hinged load-discharging Hoor section co-extensive with the` width of the 'car body, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a car-body having a hinged load-discharging floor section substantially (zo-extensive with the width of the car, of a longitudinally extending shaft mounted beneath said floor section, said shaft having one or more offset portions engaging the under side of said floor section, and means for turning said shaft', substantially as described.

5. The combination with a car-body having a dumping floor section substantially coextensive with the width of the car, of separable hinge mechanisms supporting said Hoor section on both of its longitudinal edges IlO whereby either edge may be dropped, and a f longitudinally extending shaft mounted beneath said floor section, said shaft having one or more offset portions engaging the under side of said floor section, and means for turning said shaft, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a car-body having a hinged load-dischargingfloor section substantially (zo-extensive with the width of t-he car, of an operating mechanism therefor comprising a longitudinally extending shaft disposed substantially centrally therebeneath and having one or more offset portions engaging thc under side of sald section, and means for turning said shaft, substantially as described.

7. The C-oinl'iination with a Car-body hav'- ing a hinged 10ml-discharging floor section substantiall)Y oki-extensive with the width of the car, of an operating mechanism therefor comprising a longitudine-ll)Y extending snalt mounted beneath said lloor-seetion and having one'or more offset portions engaging the under side of the latter, gearsarried by said shaft, racks disposed transversely oi and beneath the ear-body engaging and supporting said gears, and means for turning said shaft, e

substantially as described.

. The eoni'oinntioi'i with :L enrdiody haw ing a l'iinged lond-discbargin,T Hoor section,

of an operating mechanism therefor cornprising a. loiigit'ndinally extending shaft disposed beneath said loor seetion and having one or more offset. portions engaging the under side oi the latter, gears carried by said shaft, curved racks disposed transversely of and beneath' said ear-body engaging and supporting said gears, and means for turning said shaft., substantially as described.

i). The combination with a car-body hav ing a hinged load-discharging floor section, ol an operating Ineelianisin therefor coinprising alonfitudinally extending shaft disposed benent 1 said floor section and having one or more ollset liortio'ns engaging the under side of the latter, gears Carried by said shaft., concave racks disposed transversely of and beneath said ear-body engagini; and support-ing said gears, and means forturning said shaft. sulistantially as described. i

ETHAN I. DODDS.

SAMUEL' N. POND, FREDERICK C. GOODWIN. 

